Get to know the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: Syracuse football’s week-nine opponent

With the ACC football schedule being unbalanced and unpredictable, the Syracuse Orange will play the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets again in 2025, marking the third straight season these teams have crossed paths.

Georgia Tech has found some stability and could be a team capable of replicating the type of success Syracuse enjoyed in 2024, making this a rather intriguing matchup. Let’s get to know the Yellow Jackets a little better ahead of the 2025 season.

Georgia Tech’s head coach: Brent Key

After facing Key and the Yellow Jackets in two straight seasons, Syracuse fans should be getting increasingly familiar with the Georgia Tech head coach. Key played his college football at Georgia Tech, becoming an all-ACC First-Team selection in 2000. He was an offensive lineman under George O’Leary, a former Liverpool high school coach and Syracuse assistant and coordinator from 1980 to 1986.

O’Leary was the head coach at Georgia Tech from 1995 to 2001 and the head coach at Central Florida from 2004 to 2015. In 2005, he brought Key to UCF as a grad assistant. Key stayed with O’Leary at Central Florida through the 2015 season, surviving in a multitude of different positions, including associate head coach.

Key then spent three seasons as the offensive line coach at Alabama before returning to his alma mater as an assistant in 2019. He became the interim coach in 2022 and got the full-time job ahead of the 2023 season. In each of his two full seasons as head coach, Key has led the Yellow Jackets to a 7-6 record, including a 5-3 record in ACC play.

Last meeting with Syracuse: Syracuse 31, Georgia Tech 28 (2024)

The Yellow Jackets came to the JMA Wireless Dome early in the 2024 season, leaving with a loss. Syracuse never trailed in the game and looked in complete control throughout, largely thanks to 381 passing yards and four touchdowns from Kyle McCord. Old friends Oronde Gadsden and Trebor Pena both scored two touchdowns each. A pair of late Georgia Tech touchdowns made the final score too close for comfort, but it doesn’t do justice to how much the Orange dominated for most of the game.

Series history

Surprisingly, this is just the seventh all-time meeting between Syracuse and Georgia Tech, all coming since the turn of the century. The two squads first met in the season opener of the 2001 season at Giants Stadium, a 13-7 Georgia Tech win. Then there was the forgettable Champs Sports Bowl in 2004, which turned out to be Coach P’s last game. Syracuse fans would also love to forget the 56-0 drubbing Scott Shafer’s Orange took in Atlanta in 2013.

In 2020, Syracuse finally recorded its first-ever win over the Ramblin’ Wreck. Unfortunately, that was the Orange’s only win of the pandemic-plagued season. In 2023, Dino Baber’s fate was sealed with a 31-22 loss to the Yellow Jackets, as the Orange had to use Dan Villari and LeQuint Allen as wildcat quarterbacks all game. The odd takeaway is that both Paul Pasqualoni and Dino Babers coached their final game at Syracuse against Georgia Tech. Hopefully, that trend won’t repeat itself with Fran Brown.

Georgia Tech’s 2024 season

The Yellow Jackets opened the 2024 college football season with a shocking upset of Florida State. Of course, that win isn’t so surprising after the way FSU’s season played out. Despite losing road games to Syracuse and Louisville, the Yellow Jackets were sitting pretty at 4-2 at the midway point of the season. However, the Georgia Tech offense disappeared in losses to Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. But Key was able to rally the troops for back-to-back home wins against Miami (ranked No. 4 at the time) and NC State. In their regular-season finale, the Yellow Jackets nearly pulled off another top-10 upset against in-state rival Georgia, only to lose 44-42 in eight overtimes. Tech then suffered a loss to Vanderbilt in the Birmingham Bowl to finish the 2024 season 7-6.

Georgia Tech’s key returning players

Haynes King returning as the starting quarterback is perhaps the biggest reason for Georgia Tech’s optimism in 2025. King isn’t going to blow anyone away with his passing ability, although he threw just two interceptions last season while completing nearly 73% of his passes. Of course, he also had just 2,114 passing yards with 14 touchdowns. A big part of King’s game is the use of his legs, which Syracuse fans saw firsthand last season. King was Georgia Tech’s second-leading rusher, as well as the team leader with 11 rushing touchdowns in 2024.

King’s running mate, Jamal Hayes, is also back. The senior had 944 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns last season. Wide receiver Malik Rutherford, who was one of two Georgia Tech receivers with over 700 yards last season, is also back in the fold. However, most of the other skill players on the two-deep for the Yellow Jackets are either new to the program or unproven.

On the other side of the ball, Kyle Efford returns as the centerpiece of the Georgie Tech defense. He led the Yellow Jackets in both tackles (64) and sacks (3) in 2024. Senior cornerback Ahmari Harvey is also a key member of the defense who returns this season. The same is true of the safety tandem of Omar Daniels and Clayton Powell-Lee, helping to give the Yellow Jackets a senior-laden secondary.

Georgia Tech’s notable additions

To reinforce an offensive line that lost some pieces, the Yellow Jackets added Princeton transfer William Reed and South Alabama transfer Malachi Carney to help solidify that position group. The Yellow Jackets are also hoping that transfers Eric Rivers, Rahkeem Smith, and Dean Patterson will help to answer some of the questions at wide receiver heading into the season.

The Georgia Tech defense also added some help in the transfer portal, especially at the line of scrimmage. Clemson transfer A.J. Hoffler and Ole Miss transfer Akelo Stone will help to raise the talent level of a unit that desperately needs a more consistent pass rush. In the secondary, Georgia State transfer Jy Gilmore and Colorado transfer Savion Riley both have a chance to contribute right away, adding depth to a unit that’s already in good shape. Also, don’t sleep on four-star recruits Tae Harris and Dalen Penson adding to the defensive backfield as true freshmen.

Georgia Tech’s 2025 season outlook

After beating Miami - and nearly beating Georgia - late in the 2024 season, there are high hopes for the Yellow Jackets in 2025. King and Haynes coming back could give Georgia Tech a dangerous rushing attack if the offensive line holds up. King is also a competent enough passer if the Yellow Jackets can find consistency at wide receiver. There is also enough talent on defense to think that side of the ball can pull its weight, potentially putting the Yellow Jackets in a position to compete for the ACC title, especially if King can take his game to another level.

We should learn plenty about Georgia Tech early in the season, as the Yellow Jackets visit Deion Sanders and Colorado to open the season. The rest of Georgia Tech’s schedule looks rather favorable. They play Clemson in September and Georgia in November, but both of those games against national title contenders are at home. Tricky ACC games against Syracuse and Pitt also come at home.

Meanwhile, road trips to Wake Forest, Duke, NC State, and Boston College all look manageable if things break well for the Yellow Jackets. The path to 10 wins, a possible trip to the ACC title game, and even a spot in the College Football Playoff is narrow, but it’s far from impossible for Georgia Tech in 2025.

When and where Georgia Tech plays Syracuse in 2025

Syracuse and Georgia Tech are set to play on Saturday, October 25. The game will be at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta.

Learn more about Georgia Tech: https://yellowjackedup.com/

Prediction: Georgia Tech 34, Syracuse 31

Two previous trips to Bobby Dodd Stadium have been unkind to the Orange. This game promises to be another big challenge for Syracuse. The Orange will have to worry about Georgia Tech’s running game, while also respecting King’s passing ability. Keep in mind that one way or another, Syracuse will have an inexperienced quarterback this season, so out-dueling someone like King won’t be easy. At this point in the season, the Georgia Tech fans could feel like this season will be something special. The Orange will give it their best shot but come up three points short in Atlanta.